Badaa’i us Sanaa’i – Lesson 3 (Washing the Face)

It is based upon the Aayah (the one quoted in the previous lesson from Surah Maa’idah) { فَاغْسِلُوا وُجُوهَكُمْ } “And wash your faces”

And a Mutlaq (general) command does not require repetition (i.e. does not require the face to be washed multiple times). The limits of the face has not been mentioned in the Dhaahiri Riwaayah (as mentioned previously, it refers to Imaam Muhammad Rahimahullaah), but it has been mentioned (in another kitaab, of Imaam Abu Yusuf Rahimahullah) that the (limits of the) face is from the place where the hair (normally*) starts, until the bottom of the chin, and from one ear to the other, and this definition is correct, because it is defining a thing with what the linguistics of the word points out to, because “wajh” (face) is the name given to that which faces people, or what is normally faced towards, and Muwaajahah (facing face to face) also falls under this definition.

Hence it is Waajib to wash it (the face) excluding where the hair grows from (like eyebrows), because according to the general Ulamaa it is not Waajib to wash what is under the hair, but Imaam Abu Abdullaah Al-Balkhi Rahimahullaah says: It must be washed. And Imaam Shaafi’i Rahimahullaah says: If the hair is thick then washing beneath it falls away, but if it’s thin (normal) then it must be washed. (the fatwah is that it must be washed, as it will be mentioned later on Inshaa Allaah)

*Note: The face starts from the place where the hair normally starts from, that does not mean if a person is balding then he must wash right up till where his hair starts.

The (reasoning for the) view of Imaam Abu Abdullaah Rahimahullaah is that whatever is under the hair remains under the confines of the face, hence why washing it will not fall away.

And the reasoning of Imaam Shaafi’i Rahimahullaah is that the falling away (of washing) is because of the difficulty involved, and there is only difficulty in thick hair, not in thin hair.

As for us, we say that the compulsory thing is washing the face, and it’s difficult to call what is beneath the hair as the face, because it is not something that is faced towards, so it is not Waajib to wash it.

So the answer is taken from what Imaam Abu Abdullaah Rahimahullaah said, and what Imaam Shaafi’i Rahimahullaah said as well, because the falling away of the washing of the thick hair is not because of difficulty, but (it falls away) because of it not being part of the face by hair covering it, and that is found is thin hair as well.

And based upon all this Ikhtilaaf (difference of opinions) we say that what is beneath the moustache and eyebrows must be washed.